Ian Kinsler Intentionally Drops Pop Up

This weekend in Houston we saw one of those “can you do that?” moments that we love so much. One of those moments where everyone pretends like they know all about the rules based on them just forming an opinion behind what they think seems right.

With Colby Rasmus on first, Tyler White hit a high pop up to second base, shallow in the infield. With less than two outs, Ian Kinsler chose to let the pop up drop, and force out Rasmus at second base.

Why? Well obviously Colby Rasmus runs a little better than the Astros’ first baseman Tyler White. It’s relevant because being in the middle of the order, a double that could score Rasmus, might not score White. It’s something you don’t think about because you don’t see it very often.

Is this legal? Well that’s kinda tough to say. In this case the umpires after a long discussion let it go. But I’m pretty sure they have the ability to reverse this call, keep Rasmus on base, and rule Tyler White as the batter put out.